Monthly Archives: January 2008

Since the Giants moved to the Meadowlands in 1976, New Jerseyans have lamented the fact that the official name of the team remains the New York Giants. With the Giants headed for a Super Bowl showdown with the New England Patriots, the Associated Press is pouring salt on this old wound. A national story moving on the AP wire details the long-standing sports rivalries between New York and Boston – without once mentioning that the Giants have called the Garden State home for more than 30 years.

Last November, there was considerable controversy over an Asbury Park Press photo illustration of the Governor Corzine’s asset monetization plan. Now a photo illustration on the cover of Golfweek magazine has cost the publication’s editor his job.

According to the New York Times, the cover image included “a noose for an article about Gold Channel host Kelly Tilhgman’s use of the word ‘lynch’ to describe how young players could challenge Tiger Woods.”

Although there was internal debate at Golfweek about the cover, the magazine has no African-Americans on its staff.

Traditional, mainstream media outlets often are critical of blogs and websites for posting unsubstantiated information, which makes its rounds on the Internet and can be regarded as fact by its readers. But mainstream media doesn’t help its case when it elevates the status of such internet rumors. That’s what NBC’s Brian Williams did in last week’s Nevada debate when he asked Barack Obama to respond to Internet rumors that he is Muslim, that he held the Koran when he took his oath of office and that he does not recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now with the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants about to play for the NFC championship, a “Packer Prayer” based on the Our Father is circulating on the Internet. Not only is the Associated Press making the text of the prayer available to its member news organizations, the wire service also has written a story about the “prayer” and the clergy’s reactions to it.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day provides an opportunity to reflect upon Dr. King’s dream of racial equality, equal justice, equal opportunity and world peace. Indeed, his dream is closer to reality today because he forced the most powerful nation on the face of the earth to examine the moral consequences of its actions and decisions. Yet many challenges remain ahead.

The level of diversity in the news media provides an interesting example — both in terms of the numbers of minority journalists, as well as how those numbers impact the manner in which news is gathered by media organizations and interpreted by audiences.

To read more on this topic read Looking Beyond the Numbers. It was written about a year ago, but the points it makes still are valid.

A panel discussion on the defunct and often-praised Newark Evening News will take place at the Newark Public Library on Tuesday, January 29. Four journalists who worked at the paper will participate in the program, which begins at 6 p.m. Complete deatils are online at http://www.npl.org/Pages/ProgramsExhibits/Programs/NwkEveNews08.pdf.